Among Thieves totk-1

by Douglas Hulick

  “But what if it’s not personal?” I said. “What if it just looks that way? I don’t think-”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you think,” Nicco snarled. “I’ve already told Rambles to put cords on our people. We’re going to war in Ten Ways, and we’re going to bring that son of a bitch to his knees.”

  “You’re going to fight him in Ten Ways?” I said. “You don’t have the people down there to take him on!” Kells didn’t have the people there, either, but I wasn’t about to share that tidbit of information.

  “It’s taken care of,” said Nicco. “If you’d been Nosing like you’re supposed to, you’d know that.” Nicco paused and let his breath out. He rolled his shoulders. Something popped. “Besides, we have more friends there than you think. Rambles has seen to that.” Nicco grunted. “At least someone can do his fucking job.”

  So, there it was: Rambles not only had Nicco’s ear; he had arranged for “friends” in Ten Ways as well. It wasn’t a stretch to guess who two of them were, either. The only question left was, would Nicco believe me if I told him about Iron Degan and the Gray Prince? Would he even care?

  To hell with it. The war was on, and Nicco no longer trusted me. I was a marked man, even if Nicco hadn’t decided it yet. My chances of swaying him at the moment were nil. I needed to find some way to get back in his good graces, or to walk away. I couldn’t do either of those dead, and that was how I would end up if I pushed him now.

  I slid off the table and onto my feet. Suddenly, I felt overwhelmingly tired.

  “Where the hell are you going?” said Nicco.

  “To go do my fucking job,” I said. “Unless Rambles has seen to that, too.”

  Nicco didn’t answer-he just stared at me as I walked past him and out through the other two rooms of the bath.

  I didn’t work the streets that night, didn’t do anything except find my way home and collapse onto my bed. I vaguely recall noticing Task’s body was gone from my rooms, but, to be honest, I wouldn’t have cared either way at that point.

  When the knock came at my door sometime later, it felt early. The muted daylight slanting in through the shutters suggested noon. After the last two days, that was early.

  “Who?” I called through the door, my boot knife in my hand.

  “Assassins!” called Degan cheerily. I let him in, anyhow.

  Word, it seemed, had gotten out on the street about Task and her singular appearance in my rooms. As things went, it wasn’t the worst rumor to have making the rounds; if nothing else, my showing that kind of backing-inadvertent or no-would make it harder for whoever was after me to recruit a replacement. My concern was they’d find a Blade who could do the job, regardless.

  I washed up from a basin as Degan told me what he had been able to find out about Iron, which was little enough. Iron Degan hadn’t taken a new Oath in a long time-at least several years; this suggested he had been working for his Gray Prince for a while now. Nor had Degan been able to find out which Prince Iron was working for, but that wasn’t surprising. Tracking a Gray Prince was like trying to catch a bird’s shadow.

  During the last few years, though, Degan said, Iron had repeatedly been in and out of Ten Ways. He had also traveled across the empire three separate times. Each time had been to one of the most ancient cities of the empire-former seats of either Stephen Dorminikos, or one of his incarnations shortly after he began his cycle of resurrections. That was when the emperor had still gone on progress, surveying his nobles and lands, sometimes for years at a time-back before the walling off of the Imperial cordon and the first rumors of his rising paranoia.

  “Sounds like Iron’s been looking for something,” I said as I pulled on a change of clothes. There were a few small spots of blood in the laundry in my hamper from Tamas’s attack, but nothing so bad I couldn’t wear it. “Something old, too, given where he’s been hunting. Tyrogennes, Lonpo, Crosswinds and Ten Ways-all of them predate the empire.”

  “Something old,” said Degan, “or something that talks about something old. At least two of those cities have respectable libraries.”

  “And libraries have books,” I said. I buckled on my sword belt and put my knives back in place. “And who do we know who has a book, I wonder.”

  “Larrios,” said Degan.

  Which meant Ten Ways-again.

  I stopped by Eppyris’s shop on the way out. The apothecary didn’t have more than four words for me, even when I told him about Task’s body-minus the glimmer. He simply handed me a fresh supply of ahrami, closed his shop’s door, and headed over to his apartments. I heard his and Cosima’s voices raised in argument when I left with Degan.

  Given what had happened with Task, I hoped Eppyris would persuade Cosima to leave. In fact, I decided, if he didn’t, I’d make arrangements to get them both out when I returned. Cosima wouldn’t like it, but it was getting to the point where I needed to cut back on my distractions and worries, and they definitely fit under both headings now.

  It wasn’t hard to tell that Ten Ways was on edge when we arrived. As if sensing the coming war, the city guard had put almost four dozen Rags outside the main entrance to Ten Ways. They were gathered around campaign lanterns-large iron cages on tripods, filled with fuel that could burn all night when lit-checking their weapons and eyeing the cordon nervously. Several of them watched Degan and me as we went into the cordon, but none moved to stop us. I suspected it would be a different story when we tried to come out.

  It was still twilight, but already the streets in Ten Ways were emptying of Lighters. Nicco’s men were in full sight, walking in groups, gold-and-green war cords openly displayed on their arms. A few gave me a small nod, but most kept it to a cool eye. Rambles would have told them about me. I wasn’t wearing a cord; I wouldn’t have even if I weren’t working for Kells-a Nose did his best work unseen, or at least unmarked. Putting on a cord would have made me an instant target outside Nicco’s territory.

  There were other Cutters on the street, too-back alley toughs who had either been bought, or who were using the war for their own ends. This was their time-a time of killing and rape, when atrocities could be blamed on the war, and retribution from local bosses was less likely. The Upright Men’s soldiers and their allies would be too busy watching out for one another-they wouldn’t bother with minor talent as long as it didn’t get in their way.

  “So, what’s the plan?” said Degan.

  “We wander and wait,” I said as two men came rolling out of a doorway in front of us, cursing and biting and hitting each other. We stepped around them.

  “Until?”

  “Until the person I need to talk to finds us.”

  “Until he finds us?” said Degan.

  “Yes.”

  A woman’s voice joined the fray behind us. I heard the solid thunk of something large and heavy hitting something soft and breakable. One of the men screamed.

  “I would have thought,” said Degan, “what with your being a Nose and all, you might go looking for him. Maybe ask around.”

  “I’m going to,” I said, “but I doubt I’ll have much luck-I don’t know his name.”

  “No name,” said Degan. A dog started barking back at the fight. “Do you know anything else about him?”

  “He wears a big dark cloak.”

  Degan clicked his tongue. “And this unnamed man in a big dark cloak is your best lead on Larrios?”

  “At the moment, yes.”

  “And here I was worried you didn’t have a plan,” said Degan.

  In truth, we did more than wander. Since I didn’t have a network in Ten Ways, I had to resort to the basics: eavesdropping, rumormongering, and whisper buying. We roamed the streets, loitered at corners, and crawled in and out of more basement taverns and smoke holes than I could count.

  I didn’t find my man right away, but I did hear any number of rumors about what was happening in the cordon. Most were more fantasy than fact, but, after a while, I was able to discern a common thread running thro
ugh all of them: Everyone-in terms of local gangs and organizations-was getting hit, and most of them were blaming either Nicco or Kells. Even if there wasn’t any proof of their involvement, the common wisdom on the street was that the two Upright Men were positioning themselves for a takeover of the cordon itself. And that wasn’t sitting well with the local Kin.

  It was exactly what Degan and I had feared, and it had the Gray Prince’s fingers all over it. Not only was the Prince going to get Nicco and Kells to go to war with each other, but she was also prepping the local gangs to fight the Upright Men for her. I doubted she’d be able to call all the shots once the fighting began, but I was certain she was ready to step in and come off as the hero in the end. And, if we were right, this was only the beginning.

  My one chance of preventing all this was the book. Whatever it was, she clearly wanted it. If I could find Larrios and get my hands on it, I could use the book as leverage to negotiate with the Prince. I doubted I’d be able to save Ten Ways, but maybe I could ransom the rest of the Underworld from her; or at least keep Kells and his-my-organization in one piece.

  It was two hours past midnight when we came out of yet another dive. This one had smelled primarily of sweat and vomit-definitely a step up from the previous two.

  “I think I’ll just burn the whole damn cordon down and be done with it,” I said to Degan as we took a deep breath of the night air. “Easier for everyone that way.”

  Degan laughed. “There’ll always be a Ten Ways,” he said. We started walking. “Burn it down tonight, and tomorrow morning someone will be building on the ashes.”

  “And that would only be a cover so they could dig for melted hawks,” I said.

  “My, but you’re a pessimistic one,” said a voice off to our right.

  Degan had his blade out and pointed at a deep doorway in an instant. I put a restraining hand on his shoulder but otherwise didn’t move. I’d recognized the voice.

  “I find that pessimism keeps me from being disappointed,” I said.

  A piece of shadow moved within the doorway and stepped out. Tall, cloaked, hooded-he could have been anyone, except for the voice.

  “Prudent,” said the cloaked Kin. Once again, the cowl was so far forward, and the shadows so dark, I couldn’t see his face. The hood turned to face Degan and held out his hands, palms up. “Your friend and I have an arrangement,” he said.

  “Do you now?” said Degan.

  “We do,” I said. “He’s the one who’s going to lead us to Larrios.” I turned to the Kin. “Assuming he’s managed to find Larrios, that is.”

  He bowed slightly from the waist. “I can show you where he was staying as of sunset.”

  I nodded, then looked at Degan. He still had his sword pointed at the Kin. I was about to say something when Degan dropped the tip of his weapon and sent it home to its scabbard with a snap.

  “Lead on,” I said.

  The cowl shook back and forth. “Payment first,” he said, holding out a gloved hand.

  “Not until I see Larrios,” I said. Thunder rumbled overhead. I allowed myself a small smile at nature’s timing.

  “There are other buyers,” said the smooth voice inside the hood. “Larrios is a popular man right now.”

  Meaning Iron Degan was likely offering a reward as well. “One half now,” I said. “The rest after.”

  “Done.”

  I counted some hawks into his hands. He laughed at the amount. We dickered, finally settling on a price.

  Our walking shadow led us deeper into Ten Ways. The alleys grew steadily narrower as we went, seeming to gather and condense the darkness around us. The buildings on either side went from shoddy to pathetic to practically uninhabitable. Evidence of fires marked several structures, and those that had not collapsed in on themselves looked to be seriously considering the idea. And the stench… It almost made me miss the sewers. Waste, rot, decay-and most of it human in origin. Somewhere along the way it began to rain, which at least reduced the smell.

  The worst part, though, was that things were beginning to look familiar.

  “The Barren,” I said to no one in particular.

  The Kin’s cowl turned to face back over his shoulder. “You know it?” he asked.

  “I used to live here,” I said. Live? More like “survive”-that hadn’t been living. “I swore I’d never return.”

  “Oaths are meant to be broken,” said the Kin. Behind me, I heard Degan grumble deep in his throat.

  The more desolate a place, the less it changes. Then again, it wasn’t as if anyone was going to come running into the Barren and start fixing things up. The neighborhood was wide-open-no one ruled here-and people seldom asked, or answered, questions.

  This made it all the more impressive that our guide had managed to find Larrios here, of all places. You didn’t track someone down in the Barren unless you were local, or good, or both. He didn’t strike me as the former, which pointed at the latter. But if he was that good, what was he doing here?

  Sometimes, the best way to get answers is to let a thing play out. I didn’t expect this Kin to tell me what his game was, but that didn’t mean I had to walk into it blind, either. I loosened my rapier in its sheath and let my left hand slide closer to my dagger. Degan noticed and followed suit. If anything happened, I decided, our guide would be the first to go down.

  We stopped at the end of a particularly narrow alley. “There,” said our guide, pointing out of the alley and down the street. “The fourth one on the left. Larrios is on the second floor.”

  I had to squeeze past him just to see where he was pointing. “Which room?” I asked.

  The cowl turned toward me. “How should I know? You’re lucky I found him at all.”

  I studied the building through the rain. It looked to be an old warehouse of some kind, but I couldn’t be sure.

  Rain has always caused problems with my night vision; looking through it is like looking through a curtain of fine beads falling from the sky. I can still make things out, but it gets disorienting now and then. This time it was worse-despite the rest I had gotten, despite all the seeds I was taking, I was still feeling the last several days weighing down on me. Fatigue was doing as much to blur my vision now as the rain.

  “How do we know he’s still in the building?” I asked.

  “Larrios is there,” said the smooth voice. “Don’t worry.”

  “What, you made him promise to stay put?” I said.

  The cowl remained pointed at me for a long moment. I gathered I was being scowled at. “He’s there,” repeated the Kin.

  “Let’s hope so,” I said. “Otherwise, you owe me a fairsized pile of hawks.”

  “Just worry about what you’ll owe me when you’re done,” said the Kin.

  I turned to Degan. “Ready?”

  Degan had pulled his hat lower to keep the rain from his eyes. It made him look ominous. He nodded, and we headed out, leaving the cloaked Kin standing in the alley.

  The top layer of dirt and refuse on the street had softened in the rain. It shifted and slid beneath our feet as we walked to the building. There was no door on the hinges. We went in.

  Puddles were already beginning to form on the first floor. The sound of the water dripping from the ceiling overhead blended with the whisper of the rain to produce a constant noise that was at once both gentle and disturbing. The air was heavy with the smell of mold.

  The lower level was open and empty. A small forest of posts had once held up the entire second floor, although a good third of it had fallen through at some point in the past. We were halfway to the stairway at the back of the building when we heard several loud thumps from somewhere above us.

  Degan and I stopped and looked at each other. We listened. Drip drip, splash splash. Then the sounds came again. Footsteps.

  “Shit!” I said. “He’s moving!”

  Degan and I raced for the stairs. I scrambled up as fast as I could, Degan vaulting along beside me, clearing two steps at a time
. The stairs creaked and groaned, but didn’t collapse beneath us.

  The second floor consisted of a big main room with several large doorways to our left and right. A good half of the roof was gone up here, covering the floor with its remains. I noticed that the rain was now coming down harder. A path had been cleared in the debris, leading from the stairs to one of the doorways under the surviving portion of roof. A curtain hung across the doorway, and a feeble flicker of light showed around its edges.

  We ran for the curtain without a word. I wondered if the cloaked Kin outside would stop Larrios if he made it out of the building before us. More likely he’d let the Whipjack run so he could follow him and charge me for his location all over again.

  When I tossed the curtain aside, I had my rapier in one hand, dagger in the other, and Degan at my back. Larrios was empty-handed. Even better, the two men who were busy beating the crap out of him hadn’t drawn their weapons.

  I smiled.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” I said, “but I’m afraid I’ll have to insist you stop kicking that Whipjack’s ass-that’s my job.”

  The man closest to us looked up almost casually from where he was kneeling, while the other didn’t even pause in dealing out his punishment. Both were wearing dark, water-laden cloaks.

  “Get out,” said the first man. “Now.”

  I stepped through the doorway so Degan could come in behind me. The room was wide and deep. Toward the back, near Larrios and the men, a trio of candles flickered on the floor. My eyes ached a moment, then adjusted. I put my rapier through a small circle in the air to make sure it caught what little light there was.

  “Just what I was going to suggest to you,” I said.

  The first man got slowly to his feet. The other slowed in his work but still kept up a rhythmic pounding of Larrios’s face and body, alternating fists with each strike. Degan and I moved a step closer.

  The first man studied me for a moment, then moved his shoulders forward and back, shifting his cloak so that it hung behind him.